But Bree deserves whatever makes her feel whole. Whatever helps her heal. If that means enduring the performance, the tests, the way she looks at me while she’s with Jace—then that’s what I’ll do.
She’s been through too much to have me questioning her now. Too much pain, too much fear. If this is who she needs to be to feel safe, to feel powerful, then I’ll be whatever she needs me to be.
Even if it’s tearing me apart.
Even if some nights I lie awake missing the girl who used to flinch at shadows and reach for me like I was the only solid thing in her world.
This is what love means, right? Putting her needs first. Protecting her from everything that wants to hurt her.
Even protecting her from my own doubts.
Chapter 21
Gray
Sleep won’t come.
I’ve been staring at the ceiling for hours, replaying what I saw in the garden last night. Jace and Wes. The way Wes dropped to his knees, desperate and hungry and real. The sound Jace made when he came apart, the careful way Wes worked him through it.
I press the heels of my hands against my closed eyes, but the images won’t fade. The memory sits heavy in my chest—not jealousy, exactly. Something more complicated. Something that makes my skin feel too tight and my pulse kick up every time I think about how long I stood there watching.
How much I wanted to step out of the shadows.
The pre-dawn air in my room feels suffocating. I need to move, need space to think without the weight of these walls pressing down on me.
My bare feet are silent on the cold stone floors as I head toward the kitchen. Maybe I’ll make tea. Maybe I’ll just sit and try to sort through what I’m feeling without anyone else watching me do it.
That’s when I hear it.
Rhett’s voice, rough and desperate: “I can’t lose you again.”
I freeze at the kitchen doorway.
Bree is pressed against Rhett’s back, her hand moving rhythmically inside his unbuttoned jeans. His hips rock into her touch, head thrown back, completely lost in what she’s doing to him.
Her eyes are calm. Predatory. Like she’s studying his reactions instead of sharing them.
That’s not the shy, overwhelmed girl who used to blush when we so much as held her hand too long.
Rhett shudders as he comes, and she whispers something against his spine that makes him go boneless. When she pulls her hand free, she catches sight of me standing in the shadows.
Our eyes meet.
She doesn’t look embarrassed. Doesn’t look caught.
She smiles.
“Gray.” Her voice is warm honey, like finding me watching was exactly what she hoped for. “Couldn’t sleep either?”
Jace would lose his damn mind if he walked in on this.
The thought hits me out of nowhere, sharp and defensive and completely irrelevant to the situation. But it grounds me somehow. Gives me something to focus on besides the way she’s looking at me like I’m her next meal.
Rhett’s still catching his breath, but he turns to face us both, tucking himself back into his pants. His fire magic is settling under his skin, satisfied and warm. He looks at Bree like she just gave him everything he’s ever wanted.
She steps away from him and walks toward me, still wearing that serene smile. Her hand—the same one that was just wrapped around Rhett—reaches for my chest.
I sidestep before she can touch me.
